Brooklyn real estate

A new report from consulting firm Webster Pacific breaks down the growth and concentration of households with an annual income of $200,000 or more in the U.S.’s 8,700 federal opportunity zones, and Brooklyn tops the list in growth.

Brooklyn’s “opportunity zones” are part of a federal designation for low-income communities to attract investment through tax breaks for real estate developers. The program was created in 2017 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

(courtesy of Webster Pacific)

All totaled, New York accounts for 15 of the top 50 opportunity zones identified in the report. Here’s how the results were calculated:

To answer this, we calculated the growth in the percentage of households earning $200,000 or more in each of the 8,700 Opportunity Zones. (The growth is measured between 2000 and 2017 and is adjusted for inflation. We excluded any tracts that were recently created, tracts whose boundaries were significantly altered, or tracts with fewer than 100 households.

(courtesy of Webster Pacific)

At 22 percent growth, Gowanus experienced the largest gain during 2000 – 2017 of households with an annual income of $200,000 or more out of all 8,700 federal opportunity zones. Williamsburg ranks fourth on the list.

(courtesy of Webster Pacific)

The report’s major findings include that some opportunity zones, such a New York City’s, have already spurred major economic growth prior to the new designation:

Albany is currently debating rent reforms to help solve the ever-worsening affordable housing crisis in NYC, and two new reports show that apartment rental prices have reached historic highs in Brooklyn and Queens, with the exception of North Brooklyn, and retail rents are dipping in Williamsburg while rising in Greenpoint.

The StreetEasy Q1 2019 Market Report shows that rents “in Brooklyn and Queens reached all-time highs of $2,608 and $2,173, respectively.” A 0.5 percent decrease in North Brooklyn’s rental prices is linked to the L train debacle and the uncertainty that the Canarsie Tunnel repair schedule caused.

The full Q1 findings for Brooklyn:

Rents reached an all-time high. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Rent Index rose 2.2% to $2,608, an all-time high for the borough. Northwest Brooklyn rents rose the most — up 3.3% to $3,068.

The share of rent cuts fell the most. Only 17.1% of rentals had a price cut in the first quarter, down 6.7 percentage points from last year and dipping to the lowest share since 2011.

Sales prices rose slightly. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Price Index rose 0.4% to $712,413. Prices increased the most in South Brooklyn [v] — up 4.6% to $726,979.

More sellers cut their asking price. The share of homes with price cuts rose 6.3 percentage points to 21.2% borough-wide. While the share of price cuts grew, the median price cut remained unchanged from the previous year at 5.2%.

Homes took two weeks longer to sell. Homes for sale stayed on the market for 14 days longer than last year — up to 85 days total, the longest period since 2012.

The Real Estate Board of New York’s bi-annual Brooklyn retail report also cites an L train-induced decline in Williamsburg, where asking retail rents for addresses in the “Williamsburg retail corridor,” mostly declined.

Another Industrial Business Incentive Area for a seven-story office, retail, and light manufacturing development at 103 N 13th St. was approved by the City Planning Commission in February, making the greenlighted development the third-ever in NYC. Another IBIA will be needed for Acme Smoked Fishes’ redevelopment at 30 Gem St.

103 N . 13th St. (Google Maps)The planned office and manufacturing building to (tentatively) open in 2021 at 12 Franklin St. (FXCOLLABORATIVE/BEZIER)

The other two unique IBIA developments, 25 Kent Ave. and 12 Franklin St., are also within the Greenpoint and Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone and gained approval for special permits to increase the legal floor to area ratio and to remove parking lot requirements. Continue reading →

Sales have officially launched along with the release of new renderings of the”Bath Haus” condo development by Caro Enterprises. The luxury development is currently under construction at 139 Huron St. with 9 units hitting the market ranging in price from $750,000 to $3,300,000. The architectural firm Perkins Eastman is behind the redesign and have a global portfolio spanning the Hilton Lagos in Nigeria and the Abu Dhabi Court Complex in the UAE.

139 Huron St. in 1940 (Courtesy of NYC tax photo archives)

A state mandate in 1895 required the construction of public baths in cities with more than 50,000 residents. The city’s poor were previously given access to floating baths off the shores of the East River, but they fell out of favor due to unsanitary pollution.

Greenpoint’s former Huron Street Bathhouse was built 1903, opened 1904 and closed 1960, it’s completion was a result of the City Beautiful Movement, which inspired ‘beautiful’ public architecture and increased municipal amenities to improve the living conditions of the city’s poorest residents.

The Bathaus (courtesy of Perkins Eastman)

25 baths were built in the Classical Revival Style around NYC with seven constructed in Brooklyn. All were based on the baths of ancient Rome. Continue reading →

Map of proposed school next to the NuHart Superfund site (via North Brooklyn Neighbors)

The future of the proposed k-8 school across from a toxic site is in question. The current plan is to build the school on a vacant lot across the street from the NuHart Plastics Superfund site, one of the most contaminated sites in New York state.

NuHart Plastics Superfund site

NYC Councilmember Stephen Levin is holding a public meeting on Feb. 7, at the Dupont Senior Housing Center (80 Dupont St.) at 7 p.m. regarding the school and has for the past three years cited efforts to seek an alternative site for a new k-8 school in the North Greenpoint area.

A petition from North Brooklyn Neighbors in opposition to the location of the future school at the corner of Franklin and Dupont streets has received over 6,600 signatures so far.

The NuHart Plastics building spewed toxic fumes into the neighborhood while producing vinyl sheeting from 1950 – 2004, during which time underground storage tanks of toxic chemicals leaked into the groundwater and soil. Today as much as 60,000 gallons of phthalates are underground at the site and the toxic plume has migrated west toward the Greenpoint Playground across the street.

The underground plume at the corner of Franklin and Dupont streets (via North Brooklyn Neighbors)

While local residents are not currently a risk for exposure at the moment while the toxins remain more than 10 feet underground, the cleanup process is supposed to start following the demolition of the building which could start later this year following approval of the proposal of the cleanup plan by the state. Continue reading →

Quadrum Global filed plans this week with the Dept. of Buildings for a 14-story, 150-foot tall residential building at 53 Huron St. (also known as 161 West St.) with 173 units spanning 178,000 square feet.

The development includes 86 enclosed parking spaces and would span 278,000 square feet at West Street between Huron and Green streets. The rendering envisions a yacht-friendly future for the building on the Greenpoint waterfront, which would neighbor the 40-story tower ‘The Greenpoint.”

Some 42 buildings are under construction in Brooklyn’s northernmost ‘hood, with 1,754 units in progress and even more in the pipeline. The most attention-grabbing addition is 40-story condo tower The Greenpoint, which will be occupied early this year, but Localize.city notes “no fewer than five major developments are underway.”

The first market-rate building of the Greenpoint Landing megaproject, One Blue Slip, started leasing last summer, with rents starting at $2,600 per month for studios (higher than the current neighborhood median of $2,400 for a one-bedroom).

Not to mention Amazon’s HQ2 in Long Island City will be just two stops away on the G train.

If you are dreaming of living in luxury directly on McGuinness Boulevard surrounded by gas stations in the footprint of a former Pep Boys Auto Shop, then you’re in luck. The city’s affordable housing lottery presents you the opportunity to apply for one of the 60 low and middle-income units at The Otto Greenpoint, a 197 unit “luxury” development at 211 McGuinness Blvd that markets itself as “community-forward.” The lottery is open through March 6.

According to Otto’s website, amenities include “a full time front desk concierge, a community lounge, library and co-working space, a resident’s gaming lounge, a state-of-the-art penthouse fitness center and an expansive rooftop with pool, hot tub, BBQs, lawn areas, outdoor TV and 360-degree views of New York City.”

The newest addition to the 22-acre Greenpoint Landing waterfront development located at the northwestern corner of Greenpoint, named One Bell Slip, will be a 31-story residential tower according to pre-filings by Brookfield Property Partners with the Dept. of Buildings, The Real Deal reports.

The new residential building will have 380,000 square feet and 408 apartments, part of the total 5,500 total apartments planned at Greenpoint Landing which is adjacent to the soon-to-be cleaned Nuhart Plastics Superfund site.

Last summer, Brookfield announced a deal with Park Tower Group to buy into 1,240 units at Eagle and Commercial streets in two new towers financed with an $89 million loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.